The Very Obvious Relationship
by Moonlight Memories
Summary: No matter how hard they try, it is hard to hide their relationship. "I still top you though," said Shindo. There is a funny look on his face. Is that a leer? HikaruAkira
1. The Go Salon Regulars

Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me. Well, except the plot.

* * *

This is done through the eyes of one of the regulars at the go salon Shindou and Touya usually visit for their games.

"You said it 5 times!" yelled Shindou.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Someone close to me mentions that Touya Akira has, after all, become 5 dan while Shindou is a mere 3 dan. This is true, but as the young master always says, this is not a good indicator of strength. Still, it is a good point for argument; one that can always be raised against that boy.

Some of the regulars head to the door.

"I still top you though," said Shindou. There is a funny look on his face. Is that a leer? Who does he think he is? Does he think that the young master is so easy to defeat? True, there was the first two times they played together, but now, Shindo Hikaru only beats the young master every one out of four games. It is an improvement, I suppose, but it isn't enough to declare that he is better than the young master.

The young master's face is flushed with anger. He's about to retort, a retort harsher than usual, from what I see. Those two are rather predictable.

I look away and try to focus on my own game-the one I seem to be losing.

"For the next three weeks, you are not allowed to touch me, Shindou!" he yells. I look up. So does everyone, apparently. Is it because my mind isn't very clean, or is the young master suggesting…?

There is a look of terror on Shindo's face. "A-Akira…" he stammers. Then, regaining his composure, he yells back, "That isn't fair! You know I can't survive three whole weeks!"

The whole salon is quiet, deathly quiet. Since when did Shindou Hikaru use Touya Akira's first name? We couldn't have been more quiet if a gunman had burst into the room and threatened to kill us all. Most of us had our mouths wide open, understanding the implication already.

"Go hire a prostitute," retorts the young master coldly. Shindou begs for forgiveness.

Our jaws dropped further. The seed of doubt that was planted in our minds had blossomed until there was no doubt.

Before we can recover from the shock, Shindou stands, places left hand on the table to support himself and uses his right hand to cup the face of his rival. Without warning, he dives in for a kiss.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles in between kisses. It is only because of the silence of the salon that I heard it.

Later, the young master avoided everyone, blushing madly as he made his way out with his rival. I'm not sure what they did later, but I don't think I want to know, in any case.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had nightmares that night.

Not predictable, not any longer.

On the bright side, at least he got the trump card he always wanted.

* * *

A/N: I'm thinking of doing this as a series of related one-shots. The next to find out would probably be someone from the go institute. Ochi, probably. After that, I could probably do Waya and Isumi and so on. At the last part, I could write a bit about how they got together. Should I continue?


	2. Waya & Isumi

A/N: sorry for making everyone wait!~ On the bright side, it's finally after exams, and i'm going to enjoy by writing more stories until around february? Maybe.

* * *

The second they step into the go institute, they hear the yell. It's a loud yell in a refined voice. An odd contrast, not entirely unpleasant.

"What is with this move?" Touya Akira is ranting, "It doesn't make sense at all!"

Waya glances at Isumi, surprised and shocked at Touya's outburst. After all, Touya has always been reserved and mature. No matter how stupid his opponent's move was, he usually tolerated the stupidity with a gentle calm born of patience. Of course, this was what pros were expected to do. So what could he make out of this, Waya wonders. Perhaps this was another side of him that Waya had not noticed before? Did Touya enjoy screaming his head off in the Go institute after everyone left? No, that was impossible. Oh, Touya could be rude, but he was not this rude. He could brush people off without really even trying, but he was never in-your-face rude. This level of rudeness was almost on par with Shindou's version of rudeness. In fact, the only reason why it was not on par was Touya's voice. What is happening? Touya is as constant as daylight, and just as brilliant. So why is he screaming now? More importantly, who is he screaming at?

"It's utterly useless!" Touya continues ranting in the background.

Waya toys with the idea that there is actually no one there, and that the young genius is finally losing it, then dismisses the thought. He nudges Isumi in the general direction of the noise, wordlessly beckoning the older pro towards Touya. His – brother figure? Favourite go person? Best friend? Rival? – friend, he decides at last, shakes his head and says something about not interrupting a fight.

Waya shrugs and bursts in anyway. It's not like Isumi won't follow him.

"What were you thinking?" Touya finishes, clearly not noticing Waya's entrance into the room.

To his surprise, the person at the other side of the goban was Shindou. Shindou gazes at Touya, his attention completely taken in by Touya's rant. Evidently, he had not noticed Waya and Isumi either.

Waya glances at the board. Shindou's hand is just millimetres from a black go stone, and Waya guesses that that black go stone is the last stone Shindou had put down, the one that had caused even Touya to fly into a rage. Now that he is seeing it, it was indeed a spectacularly bad move. It does not connect with other stones, it does not protect any other stones and it certainly does not do anything for his already disadvantageous position. Now, if he had played a stone diagonally upwards, for instance, he might still have had a fighting chance. He supposes that he would have been mad at Shindou too, if he were Shindou's opponent. However, since Touya was Shindou's opponent, Waya has no doubt that Shindou would have tried to play well. Shindou has always wanted to beat Touya, after all. Could there have been a hidden meaning? After all, there was that game with Hon Suyon...

"Akira..." Shindou finally speaks up, obviously about to defend his move, "You look really pretty when you're angry..." Shindou says wistfully.

Okay, so Waya was wrong about Shindou defending his move. Wait, what-what-what? Pretty? Well, he supposes Touya is kind of –no, that was not the point! What the hell is going through Shindou's mind?

It sounded almost like Shindou was... like he was cajoling a lover or something. No, Waya screams internally, he did not just think that. Now he has to wash his mind with extra strong detergent. They are just rivals, that is all. And yet Shindou's eyes seems to be on Touya's lips, for some reason. Maybe he is trying to make out the words Touya is saying?

Touya blushes. Blushes! Then again, anyone would be surprised. Even Touya. Shindou really has to work on not saying the first thing that came to mind. "S-Stick to the topic!" Touya rages, although Waya can see that he is no longer angry. "What were you trying to do?"

"It's just- I could still win. Even if I put the stone there, I could win," Shindou states calmly, his eyes never leaving Touya's face. Funny, really, how they were acting like each other.

"That's ridiculous! " Touya replies, "how would this help you to capture territory?"

"It won't," Shindou replies, so calmly that Waya was on the verge on slapping his hand against his own forehead at his friend's sheer stupidity.

"Then why did you make that move?"

" It's just... that it kind of brings..." Shindou blushes, a little unwilling to complete the sentence, "it kind of brings my hand closer to your body," Shindou half-whispers.

Touya's face is priceless, half surprised and half as though he was turned on(wait, turned on?) then he yells even more, although Waya can tell that he's hiding a smile and sporting a huge blush. And if Waya can see that much, it is pretty obvious. Waya may be brilliant at reading moves (he is after all, a go pro), but he is rather hopeless at reading people outside of the basic emotions of nervousness, panic, fear, confidence, calm, and the classic"I just figured out a brilliant strategy" emotions. After all, he only ever needs those few for go. That is why his mouth is now permanently in the shape of an 'O'. He wants to glance at Isumi, but the scene at hand is too riveting to miss out on, not even for a second. He's sure Isumi suspected something like this, though.

Shindou smiles a little shyly, stands up and walks towards Touya. Clumsily, he places his arms around Touya and says something that sounds suspiciously like "I want you," although Waya is sure he's simply gone mad.

Just then, Isumi coughs purposefully, his own face the colour of tomatoes.

...okay, maybe he isn't the only one who's hopeless at reading deep emotions.

The two jump apart while Touya desperately thinks up an excuse.

Shindou turns and glares. "You sure know how to ruin the mood," he says, annoyed, "And after all the time I spent on creating the right mood, too," he huffs, and no amount of go will ever make Waya's world right again. Shindou practically shoos both of them out, saying something like "Get your own room to flirt in!" or something. Exactly those words, except Shindou doesn't say flirt. To his credit, Touya looks horrified and apologetic.

They are left standing outside the go institute, listening to Shindou cajole Touya. "No one will come in this time, I promise," Shindou seems to be saying, and then comes Touya's answering angry voice, saying that they've done it this morning and Shindou shouldn't be so insatiable, and Waya just stops thinking.

"You know, maybe we should," Isumi mumbles, blushing madly. Waya is unable to process the thought, so he almost nods mutely before he starts thinking. Exactly what does Isumi mean? Then he recalls Shindou's words.

WHAT?

* * *

a/n: well, at least he thought before he nodded? Lol. In the end, it's like he wants to speak, but he's just so shocked that his mouth muscles are paralysed... or something. What did you guys think?


	3. Ochi

This thing is in 4 parts, so please be patient. Hope you guys enjoy:)

* * *

Ochi was walking towards the Go Institute and Ogata was running out of it. As you might already have predicted, they slammed into each other rather roughly. Ogata glared at Ochi as though it was Ochi's fault, muttered something about Ochi's ability -or rather, inability- to play decent go, picked up his things and rushed off again, leaving Ochi bewildered. He hadn't even had time to stand up.

Ochi stood up and brushed all the dust off himself. As he did so, he noticed a videotape. He glanced up to look for Ogata, but the man was already gone.

Returning the videotape to Ogata would really be the right thing to do, he mused, but he didn't really want to do that, not after he had been so rudely treated. He might as well throw this away.

Suddenly, a thought came to him. What if Ogata had recorded different Go matches on tape and was planning to watch it in the privacy of his home?

Ochi turned the tape over in his hands.

The words "Touya/Shindou" were neatly marked on the side. So, this was a recording of matches between Touya and Shindou? Interesting. Ogata was **never** going to get this back.

He couldn't wait to get home.

* * *

Nearly trembling with anticipation(but not quite, because he was Ochi, after all), Ochi pressed the 'play' button.

The image more than surprised him. While he expected go matches, all he saw was Touya and Shindou making out. In the Room of Profound Darkness. Hurridly, he turned the television off, knowing that he would never be able to look at the room, or Ogata, or Shindou, or Touya in the same way again.

How disappointing. And there he was thinking that he'd finally be able to beat them, too. Or at least observe their strategies.

On the bright side, at least he now knew why Touya was so obsessed with Shindou.

Well, if nothing else, this tape was somewhat useful. He might be able to grab a win from Touya, although it would take some planning. If he wasn't wrong, his next match with Touya would be held in two weeks' time. Two weeks was plenty of time, Ochi mused. He'd definitely come up with a good strategy by then.

Perhaps he should watch it again?

Nah, he didn't really want to.

It'd be nice if he could defeat Touya fairly, but as things stood, his chances weren't that great. He could do it this way, snap up a win. Besides, if Touya's mind wasn't strong enough, he didn't deserve the win. And anyway, they'd totally spoiled the Room of Profound Darkness for him. Now the mere thought of being in there made him feel a little queasy, and not just because of the cameras that were installed there.

* * *

As they sat down to begin their match, Ochi offhandedly remarked, "By the way, I finally figured out why you are so obsessed with Shindou."

"Is that so?" Touya answered politely, already looking focused on the board.

"Yeah. However, I don't think the Room of Profound Darkness is the way to go, especially since someone, most likely Ogata, seems to have installed cameras there."

"I see," Touya replied, not focused on the conversation at all.

It was only after the game that Ochi realised that he should really have told Touya before they sat down to play. Oh well, he was simply out of luck.

* * *

While Touya had not been focusing on the conversation during the match, the second it ended, he remembered what Ochi said, and the blood rushed to his face. He politely excused himself and then ran away from the game, intent on finding Shindou.

"Shindou!" he yelled, tapping his boyfriend's shoulder. Waya instantly stepped back. Isumi stepped a bit closer to Waya, and the latter stepped away from Isumi. This happened a few times, so Touya assumed that he was trying to run away from isumi. But why? Oh well, it didn't matter.

"Akira," his boyfriend acknowledged, "What's wrong?"

"Ochi... um... ah..."

"You're so cute when you're embarassed," Shindou noted, touching his cheek.

Touya blushed even harder.

"This is the Go Institute," Touya mumbled.

"Yeah?" Shindou replied, but he did not stop.

"Ah! Yes, before I forget, um... Ochi said he found some tapes of us in the Room of Profound Darkness."

" Oh. Did you want to watch them?"

"That's not the point! Someone videotaped us! This isn't good! And we... we... " Touya blushed again.

"Oh, you didn't know?"

"What? Don't tell me you knew this all along?"

"Yeah. I noticed them the third time we were there. It's kind of obvious, so I figured you knew as well and just liked people to watch us."

"You're impossible! I'm not coming over to your house tonight, or tomorrow night, or ever again, if you keep this up," Touya said, then walked off in a huff.

"Heh. I definitely can't control myself, but he can't control himself for that long either, " Shindou remarked, but he chased Touya anyway.

Waya knocked his head on the wall. He did not need to hear any of these things!

"Waya, you're going to hurt yourself," Isumi said gently, "and I'm sorry for last friday." He reached out to rub the bump on Waya's head, but Waya jerked away.

"Okay," Waya replied, "let's continue to be friends?"

"Yeah."

* * *

A/N: Okay, this is done:) I'll see what I can do about Waya/Isumi ^^'


	4. Shindou's Mother & Akari

A/N: Here's the next one. Sorry the updates are so slow, I'm just not sure how many people actually read this, so I'm not sure if I should write more, but I realise I need to tie up the Waya/Isumi thing, so there's no way I can just stop now. Here goes!

* * *

Waya is mildly surprised to find Shindou's childhood friend- Was her name Akari or something?- standing outside the door of Shindou's room. After all, they've been invited to Shindou's house for some games of go, so Waya really doubts that Shindou invited his friend as well. However, they're more surprised by the fact that her ear is pressed to Shindou's door. Even more astonishing is the fact that Shindou's _mother _has her ear pressed to Shindou's door.

By now, Waya is convinced that he shouldn't have come. But it was Go! How could he resist?

Still, he regrets the decision. He's seen how the Touya/Shindou matches end, for one thing. If it isn't screaming, it's... that other thing that he doesn't want to think about, but cannot help thinking about seeing as there are two people with their ears pressed to the doors of Shindou's room. It must be that, they must be doing that. It does not bode well. He half wants to run out of the door, but the problem is that the other reason why he doesn't want to be here *cough* Isumi *cough* will chase after him.

Stupid Isumi. Why did he have to push Waya off the course of that oncoming car? Now Waya feels all weird. His stomach twists, he can't breathe properly, and he can't think. Of anything else, anyway. He's not sure he's in the right state of mind to play any Go.

If he didn't know better, he'd think he was sick.

Too bad he knows better.

He's not sick, he's seriously sick, and maybe he can ask Shindou to let him leave early on account of that. Except, he can definitely count on Isumi taking him home, and that's just going to make him feel more sick, considering that these symptoms come out most often when Isumi is there.

The two of them walk up the stairs silently.

Shindou's mother and childhood friend regard them with some surprise. The former quickly makes her way down the steps, not looking much different from usual while the latter is so surprised, she jumps a little, then goes absolutely scarlet and runs down the stairs, somehow managing to do so noiselessly. Waya and Isumi glance at each other, and Waya blushes. The childhood friend is cute, and Waya is sure she'd be monopolising his thoughts if Isumi hadn't pushed him out of the way of that car. So he glares at Isumi.

It's all Isumi's fault.

Honestly, it wasn't even that big of a car. Waya is sure he wouldn't have died even if the car hit. Of course, it managed to decelerate on time, but even so, for one horrifying moment, he imagined that Isumi might be hit.

He's sure his heart stopped.

It's not as though he is in love with Isumi, he's just worried about Isumi's Go. If Isumi died, he wouldn't be able to play Go anymore. Yeah, that's it, he convinces himself, quelling his heart. In any case, it's normal to be worried about a friend. And it's not as though he considered taking Isumi's place in the would-be accident or something...

Oh wait, he did, didn't he?

But that's perfectly normal with good friends. Definitely!

As they approach the door, they hear the sounds of someone- or rather, some people- thrashing about on a bed. There are louds moans and grunts, and what is Waya supposed to think?

"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Isumi reassures him, gently touching him on the arm. He pulls away from the touch.

Since when did Isumi's touch burn?

"Ah!" Waya hears Touya's voice. "Faster!"

He also hears Shindou's answering grunts.

Isumi seems a little disturbed, but he stays rooted to the spot. Waya almost wants to take his hand and pull Isumi down the stairs, just like they used to, but now the very thought fills him with a strange mixture of guilt and disgust. The thought itself burns his hand.

"These... these things happen sometimes, but it's usually a misunderstanding," Isumi says, but he doesn't sound so sure this time.

"A-Akira!" Shindou's voice calls out.

Waya doesn't stay to hear any more, and Isumi, taking one last glance back at the room, follows Waya.

They wait on the sofa quietly. Waya is as stiff as a statue, ever conscious of their closeness. He doesn't even want Isumi to come one milimetre closer, but at the same time, he thinks he won't mind it that much.

"Waya, listen" Isumi says, "I'm really sorry about touching your arm just now."

"No," Waya says softly, averting his eyes. "That's not it."

"I understand that you're feeling a bit uncomfortable around me, so I'll just be more-"

"No," Waya repeats, more firmly. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Isumi asks gently.

Waya refuses to answer. Isumi looks a little confused, and seems about to ask another question when Shindou and Touya walk down the steps together, both looking like they'd just had sex. Which, Waya suspects, is exactly what happened, considering that there are several marks on Akira's neck that resemble lovebites.

"What were you two doing?" Waya asks, then realises belatedly that he doesn't actually want to know.

Shindou doesn't meet his eyes. "You know... Go."

"Ah... I didn't realise Go is such an... invigorating sport," someone says, and Waya is surprised to find out that it is Shindou's mother. He has no idea how Shindou's mother can take this so calmly, but he supposes that there had probably been many signs. His own mother would freak out, he is sure of that.

Touya blushes.

"Yeah, it takes a lot of strength to enter the opponent's territory, especially if I'm against Akira," Shindou says casually, still looking away. The words sound rather innocent, but Waya has the sinking feeling that Shindou isn't talking about Go.

"I see..." Shindou's mother says, obviously at a loss for words. "I guess you could call me mother, Akira-kun."

Waya's sure that his mouth is hanging open.

"M-Mother! That kind of thing is-" Shindou says, finally looking embarrassed.

Waya hopes _his_ mother doesn't react this way. For some reason, he thinks he'd be better off getting screamed at.

Not, of course, that he's gay.

Or something.

Oh, who is he kidding?

* * *

A/N: Let me know what other point of views you guys would like? And don't worry, you'll see less of Waya and Isumi after I tie up their story in the next chapter. Probably. By the way, if you're wondering why Shindou is acting so shy, it's because he's in front of his mother.


	5. The Insei

A/N: I suppose this one will conclude the Waya/Isumi thing. And maybe this series, I'm uncertain. I won't say this is the best, because it isn't. But it sort of ties things up.

* * *

Waya leaned forward to kiss Isumi.

Yes, really. He'd given up ignoring Isumi or trying to pretend that he didn't care about Isumi.

As his lips neared Isumi's, the go centre broke out in excited whispers, and there were footsteps leading out of the room where the insei were having their matches.

Waya quickly jumped out of the way, leaving Isumi looking very, very confused.

"What were you trying to do?" Isumi asked Waya with a half-frown as Nase entered the room with Iijima. Waya wanted to answer that he was trying to kiss Isumi, obviously, but then he looked at Nase. That had to wait, he supposed. So he decided not to answer Isumi's question.

Nase caught sight of them as she turned her head.

"You won't believe this," Nase said excitedly. "Ochi told me that the reason why Touya is so interested in Shindou is because Touya and Shindou are lovers! He's got the wildest imagination! I mean, I know Ochi's obsessed with Touya's go, but to concoct such a-"

Before Nase could finish, Waya decided to tell her the truth. "It's true," he said blandly.

Nase's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Isumi and I overheard them," he said, then looked away. "More than once. It was a disturbing experience. Wasn't it, Isumi?" he asked, and was surprised to find that Isumi's eyes were clouded with some unknown emotion. He had his mouth set in a thin line.

"Yes," Isumi said, and looked away.

"Isumi, are you alright?" Nase asked.

Isumi smiled a faint smile. "I'm fine."

Shindou and Touya chose that very moment to come into the Go Centre, bickering about a Go game they had been playing earlier.

"Shindou!" Nase called.

Shindou smiled at her and waved at Isumi and Waya. "I'm sorry we didn't play much Go when you guys came to my house," Shindou said.

"Aren't you mad that we left your house after the first game?" Waya asked.

"You did?" Shindou questioned, honestly looking surprised. "I didn't notice."

Waya sighs and is somehow thankful he didn't stay for the later games because he's sure it would have scarred him for life. While he might like Isumi, there was no way he wanted to look at Shinou and Touya while they were doing it. No! Bad images! He tried to forget about it.

"Is it true that you and Touya are lovers?" Nase asked Shindou.

"Which Touya are you talking about?" Shindou asked, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "But yes, Akira is mine."

Touya blushed and looks away and Waya thanks all the gods of Go that he didn't fall in love with Shindou, or vice versa. How could Shindou say such embarrassing things? Wouldn't it just be fine to say that they are together? What's with the 'Akira is mine' part?

Nase blushed. "So it's true?"

Isumi's eyes were on a random plant.

Waya didn't wait to hear Shindou's reply. He had to discuss this love thing with Isumi now! He grabbed Isumi's hand and practically dragged Isumi out of the room, vaguely conscious of the blush on Isumi's skin.

"What are you doing?" Isumi asked as they hide in some alley. There was a hint of irritation on Isumi's face.

Waya gulped. He seldom saw Isumi annoyed, and even then the annoyance was never usually directed at him.

"Can you sit down for a bit?" Waya asked.

Isumi looked confused, but he complied nonetheless.

So Waya kissed him. It was much easier when Isumi was on the ground, as expected.

"I like you, I think," Waya said as they pulled apart. Isumi's cheeks were pink. He kissed Isumi again. "I definitely like you," Waya concluded, smiling.

"I love you," Isumi said softly.

"About time," Shindou commented from some distance away. Waya blushed and turned to look at Shindou.

"What are you doing here?"Waya asked.

Shindou grinned. "You ruined my moment with Akira, so I'm here to ruin yours."

Waya was about to throw something at Shindou, because seriously, how immature can Shindou be? But before he could pick up some random nearby garbage, Isumi's arms encircled him. "Don't," Isumi said affectionately, and Waya marveled at how his body goes all tingly at the single word.

Shindou smiles and walks away, hand in hand with Touya.

As Waya walks back to the Go Institute- not hand-in-hand, because that's just gay and weird- he hears Nase spreading the news about Shindou and Touya. The ever-cynical Iijima is nodding his head and saying that it's the only reason why Touya could be interested in Shindou at the start, but Waya knows better. Shindou wasn't kidding when he said Touya saw his Go potential, that much Waya is convinced of. Touya is good at Go, after all, and Shindou did rise up very quickly. But perhaps Touya was already somewhat infatuated from the start.

Nase almost heads towards them, but then she seems to remember that they've already heard the big story, so she turns her attention to the other insei.

"We are never telling Nase about our relationship," Waya remarked softly to Isumi, and Isumi laughed.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this:) I'm not sure if I want to write more, but I'm very sure this series will be left alone for a while. For at least a month or two, because I have a bunch of other things on my hands. Anyway, everything's tied up, and to me, they're more like one-shots rather than a full story, so I'm sure it'll be fine:)


End file.
